The New Normal: Rama McCabe of the Banks Journal On Small Brand Leadership And Grace under Pressure

The economic fallout from the COVID19 pandemic is yet to be quantified. Every day strikes new blows to the financial base of the international economy.

There is still no quantification of the economic fallout from the COVID19 pandemic. Every day, the financial center of the world economy is hit by new blows.

For successful upstarts like Banks Journal, the opportunity lies in a small ship's ability to deftly navigate this current storm, and emerge on the other side with the communal boost of goodwill towards the remaining players in our little subcultural game.

We caught up with Rama a few days after he'd shuttered Banks' offices and made some tricky, sound decisions immediately following the stay at home order in California.

Stab: Where will you be riding out this thing?

Rama McCabe: California is my home now. I was born in Australia, but my business is here and my close friends are here and I think it's really important for people to stay put. I’m here supporting our employees and work with our partners and try and navigate through this.

Yeah, I feel like a lot of people have just sort of checked out. They're like, cool, I'll see you when this is over.I’m a firm believer that people in a leadership role should be going down with the ship, in all cases. If we're checking out then there's no reason for our employees to be really focused working from home.

Right now I think all the employees and myself have to be working harder than we ever have because in the last 5 days we've lost 90% of or wholesale business. So that leaves us with one source of income which is our online store.:

Has the pace of news coming from the bigger brands and retailers been a surprise?

I thought their reaction time to what was happening out there would have been a little faster. They were all pretty slow to close their stores and offices. I believe when you’re a large business like many of the retailers and brands that surround us you need to be leading by example and protecting your employees alongside the general public.

How different is the reality of a small brand dealing with this than a big brand?

I can only talk for myself and Banks Journal but the biggest difference for a small business is how cash flow dependent we are. There is no large sum of cash sitting in the bank or access to hefty overdrafts like you see a lot of the larger business tapping into through this.

How honestly do you anticipate coping with this in the long term??

It's going to be two to three months before we get back on track, and I think that's positive, so over the last 24 hours, we've made some dramatic changes within our business. We held a company-wide meeting and told all the workers, including myself and the other founders, that we will have to cut wages by 30 percent for the next three months. Along with this we are reducing as many costs as possible. We are looking into reduced rent with landlords, postponing payments and orders with factories, and really trying to buckle down during the storm so we come out on the other side stronger than how we came into it.

I think even though the industry has been tricky, people have become a little bit complacent. That's a scenario we all face together. It's gonna make us all come out a lot smarter.

As a brand, I think we replied to this pretty quickly because we have the luxury of being tiny and the majority of employees sitting in one office. Taking into account what was going on, within a few minutes, I and the other founders were able to make a decision on the spot and execute it.

So when it moves in various directions, we're in a position to follow this.

I think now we need strong leadership through these times as it is easy to lose sight of the positives that I'm hoping will come out of this situation we are all facing. I truly believe that brands will come out of it stronger and better than ever if they make it through this crisis. Especially on the direct to consumer side of things.

Are retailers in brick and mortar going to need the most support??

We are really trying to figure out how, through this time, we can help them.

We really concentrate on e-comm companies; they will still be moving goods, so we make sure they know that we are still shipping products and providing great customer support.

That is very significant, I think: just unity and support for all the people who have supported us for the past five years.

If this lasts for six months, what will the surfing industry look like??

Retailers and brands with the lack of an online DTC model will cease to exist and the ones that have been able to adapt and be creative are going to thrive in a thinned-out less competitive landscape. I believe it's going to be an exciting time if we can be one of the prosperous companies to weather this storm and see the sun break through the clouds at the top.

Who are you isolating with and are you sick of them yet?I'm lucky, to be honest. I’m with my girlfriend Shannon and our three month old puppy Hula and they’re the best company I could ask for.

Screen-time up from weeks past??

All right. So I'm trying to avoid this kind of details, but ... it's actually down 17% from last week. Two hours and 46 minutes.

But ... but ... Much of my job is done on my mobile, so that's probably a little deceptive.

What did you do to keep the restlessness at bay??

Eating great food, drinking some nice wine, getting a lot of work done, puppy training and trying not to get bitten too much by those sharp little teeth of hers. My hands are shredded like that.

Eating great food , drinking some good wine, doing a lot of work, training the puppy, and trying not to get too bitten by her sharp little teeth. My hands are shredded like that.

Three essential apocalypse foods?

I really love Indian food, so I've been really into dahl. Um, I love making it and love it. A lot of coffee and, and probably just a little water as well, over wine, I guess. During the day [laughs].

What are three non-device essentials?

My beanie, Doc Martens and a black sweater.

Three critical foods for the apocalypse? I love Indian food a lot, so I was really into Dahl. Um, I love and love to make it. A lot of coffee, and maybe just a little water, I think, over wine. [laughs] throughout the day. She's like a little tiger. That's intense. Eating great food, enjoying some good wine, getting a lot of work done, puppy training and trying not to get bitten too much by her sharp little teeth. She likes to bite anything and anything that is in front of her. My hands are shredded like that.?

Hmmm possibly somewhere with perfect waves and warm water would be nice but in saying that I'm super happy where I am.

Where's the first place you're going to go after all this?

Doc Martens, my beanie, and a black jacket, a guy after my own heart. If you could do this whole thing over again, would you prefer to be quarantined somewhere else? Three critical foods for the apocalypse? I love Indian food a lot, so I was really into Dahl. Um, I love and love to make it. A lot of coffee, and maybe just a little water, I think, over wine. [laughs] throughout the day. She's like a little tiger. That's intense. Eating great food, enjoying some good wine, getting a lot of work done, puppy training and trying not to get bitten too much by her sharp little teeth. She likes to bite anything and anything that is in front of her. My hands are shredded like that.

How close has the virus touched you and your family and crew?

We are all very lucky to not know anyone that has caught the virus as of yet. The only thing that has really affected us is the lack of toilet paper at the corner store.

All right, last one. Any final thoughts or takeaways from this experience?

There's a lot of really great small emerging brands out there and I think it's really important for all of us to band together and be open with each other about how we’re dealing with things as they come. For all of us to come together, instead of going in our own different directions. Communication between small brands will keep them alive and we can all get through it together.

Rama, this is the uplifting interview that today 's people need. I enjoyed it so much.

Hey there, darling.

We have got to say something.

There's no longer long-hair surfing and doobie-suckers. Surfing is suitable to stockbrokers-and-booted. They're college students who smelled the flowers and didn't swallow the evening Fresh news. They are just-18-year-olds whose trunks stop at the top of their knees. Surfing is beavertails and Logs and empowered women who are not adverse to a cut from Brazil, but they are also 540s and 540s. Double oops, then. Surfing is goddamn hot right now and, most of all, inspired.

And Stab is driven by it. What's this whole show about, in short??

Big ideas and the effort to implement them. They don't fall off sometimes, but it's better ... Just curious. A bunch of selfish and morally dishonest people will bring together a stab. Humans, but goddamn it, if we're not the most obsessed group you've ever seen ... Our eyes remained open as you were sleeping.